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Unions spending your tax dollars to pick your politicians

What if I told you that your tax dollars fund political campaigns that you probably didn’t vote for? Unwittingly, taxpayers have been subsidizing the partisan politicking of a significantly strong lobbying force in Pennsylvania politics: unions. New analysis shows that 2025 — which was supposed to be a quiet off-year election year — proved to be a boon for union political spending in Pennsylvania. Political action committees (PACs) operated by trade unions and government unions combined to spend $22.4 million on monetary and in-kind political activity in 2025. Obviously, ...

Government blocks grocery stores

Across the country, politicians are sounding the alarm about rising food prices and lack of access to grocery stores. Their solution? Government-run supermarkets. There’s just one problem: in many cases, the same policymakers proposing these taxpayer-funded stores are also making it harder for private grocers to open in the first place. That contradiction isn’t just ironic, it’s expensive. Consider what’s happening in New York City. Officials are advancing plans for publicly owned grocery stores, pitched as a way to bring down prices and improve access. But early estimates ...

Thinking about the consequences

It’s not over yet. We still have a long way to go before Donald Trump is replaced but I’ve been thinking about the consequences of his presidency. Of course the worst case scenario is that he will blow up the world. Second, I fear the movie “Terminator” was a forewarning. Barring these two outcomes, I think the next worst thing will be that no other country will trust us again, perhaps ever. A survey in nine European countries shows rising distrust toward the United States under President Trump. Nearly 48% of Europeans see Trump as their enemy. These findings come as Europe ...

What is the Holocaust about?

What should Holocaust education be about? This has become a matter of some debate in the United States and worldwide. Recently, the issue reared its complex head in connection with an organization on whose Board I serve. The current Mission Statement of the organization which sponsors a writing competition on the Holocaust for middle and high schoolers reads as follows: “It is our mission to sponsor essay writing competitions focused on fostering a perpetual remembrance of The Holocaust. Our audience is middle school and high school students.” My proposal was to amend that ...

Make life a little more affordable

“Everything just costs too much right now.” That is what we hear every day from the people we represent. Families feel it at the grocery store. They feel it at the gas pump. They feel it when the electric bill comes in or when they pay for their cell phone service. These are not optional expenses. These are the basics of modern life. When everyday essentials keep getting more expensive, the government should not make it worse. It should look for ways to provide relief. That is why we are working on legislation to establish targeted tax holidays on essential goods and ...

An energy giant that keeps tripping over its own red tape

Pennsylvania has an energy problem — and it has nothing to do with what’s in the ground. The commonwealth is an energy powerhouse by almost any measure. Pennsylvania exports 89 million megawatt-hours of electricity per year, making it the nation’s leading electricity exporter. The Keystone State also ranks among the nation’s top producers of natural gas, nuclear power, and coal, powering and heating American homes and businesses nationwide. Yet Pennsylvanians pay more for electricity. A new report from the Joint Economic Committee finds that the average Pennsylvanian paid ...